United States Eventing Association

It All Comes Together for Coleman and Diabolo in Kentucky Cosequin CCI4*-S

Lexington, Ky.—April 28— Will Coleman gets cold calls for horse sales all the time. So when he got an email from agent Sharon Ridgeway who was representing a horse in Australia, it almost went in the bin with the rest of them.

“If I don’t know the person, I usually just take a quick glance at [the emails], and throw it in the trash,” said Coleman. “Katie [Coleman, Will’s wife] was actually looking through some of the videos that [Sharon] sent and said, ‘I think this horse is interesting, I think you should go look at this one.’ ”

Next thing Will knew, he was on a plane to Australia with his father for a quick three-day trip to meet Diabolo. Had Katie not pushed Will to take a second glance at that email, he wouldn’t be sitting in the center seat at the press conference of the Cosequin CCI4*-S at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day event today.

The Diabolo Group came together in February of 2023 to purchase the now 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Diarado x Roulett M) and Will, who normally produces his own horses through the levels, took things slowly with him at first.

“I think it is always more difficult when you go by horse a little bit later on in their career,” he reflected. “It's never an easy thing. It may sound like a shortcut, but it's usually more difficult than when you can bring them along from the beginning.”

Coming from Australia, Diabolo not only had to adjust to a new rider but a whole new hemisphere.

“For most of last year, we honestly struggled to kind of feel like he was his normal self. He just had various kinds of issues just adjusting to life in a different hemisphere," said Will. "The season change and all that kind of stuff, it definitely took a toll on him. So we were just really patient and just waited for him to tell us when he was feeling ready to go and start competing again.”

That quiet season suited Diabolo and helped Will build a partnership with him. Slowly, Diabolo began to adjust to life as an expat in the States, and the good results started rolling in.

While he has had some top finishes at the level, his win today in Kentucky marks the gelding’s first-ever four-star win, and his first time finishing on his dressage score at this level with Will. It’s a definite feather in the gelding’s cap with all eyes on the selections for the Paris Olympics, and while Will would love to be called up to represent on any of his horses, he isn’t thinking that far ahead yet.

“I think we all believe in all the horses that we have, but for me, Diabolo is a newer horse for me, and Timmy [Off the Record] is a bit more tried and tested, but he is also getting a little bit older. I’m not really thinking too much about Paris at the moment. I just want to regroup after this event and see where the horses are at, and then whatever happens in terms of selection is out of my hands.”

Sadly, Will noted that the odds of one of his other top mounts, Hyperion Stud's Chin Tonic HS, representing the U.S. at the Olympics this year are low after “Chin” was withdrawn prior to the event starting this week due to a carpal sheath issue.

“I couldn’t really say whether he was definitely out for Paris, but we are going to need to explore the issue with his carpal sheath a little bit more," he said. "I think having missed this event, this was sort of the key event for him to do in terms of selection. For me, I would say it is low odds for him to be available for that, but I still don’t have the full picture of what we are going to have to do regarding this sheath issue. The horse is 100% sound and really well, but we don’t want to put him at any sort of risk and do anything to threaten the rest of his career.”

Even with lots of big decisions looming in the distance, Will is excited to focus on this big accomplishment for Diabolo.

“I think the horse, even at home, was starting to give me the feeling that he was on the verge of doing something competitive at a big event," he said. "We obviously have a lot of belief in the horse’s talent. We’ve just been patiently biding our time until he was ready to show it to the rest of the world. I think he still has a long way to go, but I am really keen on him and excited about his future.”

Will also had an impressive weekend with longtime partner Off the Record, finishing in third with the Off the Record Syndicate's 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (VDL Arkansas x Drumagoland Bay). The pair started their weekend in seventh, but impressive performances in both jumping phases and only 0.8 time penalties added in cross-country moved them up to third after the final phase.

Boyd Martin also moved up with both of his four-star entries thanks to double-clear jumping efforts in show jumping this morning. He finished in second with Yankee Creek Ranch, LLC’s Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 (Connor 48 x R- Adelgunde) and fourth with the Annie Goodwin Sydnicate’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Fedarman B (Eurocommerce Washington x Paulien B), both of which jumped clear in cross-country and show jumping, only picking up a tick of time each yesterday.

Martin has several horses delivering impressive results. His 2021 Tokyo Olympic partner Tsetserleg TSF is currently waiting for him in Europe where they will contest the Badminton five-star in two weeks' time. Like Will, he is hoping one of them can step forward to join the 2024 Paris team, but don’t ask him to pick one.

“They are pretty hard to split; actually they are about as good as each other,” he said of his two Kentucky four-star entries. “They’re very strong in all three phases. It’s a wonderful position to be in to have a couple of hopefuls and, like your children, you should never favor one more than the other.”

Competing in the four-star this year was a strategic move for these two horses as it allowed them to experience the atmosphere at Kentucky without pushing them to do a five-star just yet.

“I’ve been lucky enough to compete all over the world and from the southern hemisphere to Europe and America and there is no question—American crowds are the best of anywhere in the world. They love this— they even cheer when things go bad. It’s a wonderful atmosphere.”

Martin aims to pivot 11-year-old “Connor” and 14-year-old “Bruno” towards one of three events: the Paris Olympics, the five-star at Luhmühlen (Germany), or the Nations Cup at Aachen (Germany).

“I think for my two horses would be perfect for that—this run didn’t take too much out of them. I think those three events coming up in the next couple of months that hopefully you will see them at.”

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